FERNS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 91 



the ferns which grew on such spots as he , describes in 

 his rambles : — 



" The common overgrown with fern, and rough 

 With prickly gorse, that shapeless and deformed, 

 And dangerous to the touch, has yet its bloom, 

 And decks itself with ornaments of gold." 



But though this beautiful fern luxuriates especially on 

 moist boggy lands, it is not confined to such localities ; 

 it grows also in woods and on banks, particularly 

 such as are rendered moist by streams or pools, and 

 where the soil is of sand or gravel. Though occur- 

 ring in most counties of the kingdom, yet it is some- 

 what local in its haunts, and not always to be found 

 where we should soonest have looked for it. It is a fern 

 readily distinguished, the barren fronds spreading more 

 around the spot whence they arise, sometimes being 

 quite prostrate on the ground, and having the pinnae 

 much closer together than in the taller erect fertile 

 fronds, which are cut into so many slender divisions as 

 to resemble the teeth of a comb ; the barren ones having 

 their segments only cut nearly to the midrib, while the 

 fertile ones are distinctly pinnate. The former are about 

 half, or rather more than half the height of the fertile 

 leaves, and have short scaly stalks. The fertile fronds, 

 which are about a foot or a foot and a half high, have 

 a dark brown stalk nearly half their length, with long 

 pointed scales upon its surface, and are at once dis- 

 tinguished by their upright growth. 



Both kinds of fronds are bright green, and their 

 veining is similar, except that in the fertile frond a long 

 vein runs down each side of the midrib, and on this are 



